"8 Principles that Manage the Learning of Adults!"

Anyone that has not lived in a cave since the turn of the century has heard the term students in school today are 21st Century Learners. That term has a multitude of meanings depending on the circumstances it is being discussed. The fact remains that the broad awareness that students in school learn much differently today than the manner that adults today learned when they were in school. The result has induced a transformation in education for students in school.

Much of the discussion of 21st Century Learners stems from the infinite amount of knowledge we all have at our fingertips through technology. How does this resonate to adult learning? The greater quandary that must be deliberately considered in business is; How does 21st Century Learning affect adults that are now in the workforce? How do Learning and Development Managers in business large and small establish a training curriculum that addresses all audiences of learners? Technology is absolutely a factor in adult learning as well, however there are other factors that also equally impact the opportunity of learning for adults that are not influenced by technology.

Malcolm Knowles, a Harvard graduate long before the 21st Century, has been acclaimed as the foundational father of adult learning principles that are still applicable today. The principles are theory based which allows even the acceleration of technology to accommodate the learning of adults today. Through his research Knowles determined that in preparing to instruct adults eight principles must be understood about how adults learn and how their expectations of learning will be met.

1. Active Learning – Active Learning means that adults need to be engaged in the information being presented. They need to be involved in discussion, allowed to give feedback, and participate in activities that pertain to the content. Facilitators need to minimize their delivery of content and through the adults engaging in discussion they will realize their knowledge genuinely.

2. Problem Centric – Adults anticipate learning opportunities to solve their problems. They do not engage in learning to gain content knowledge solely. Content alone does not impact their lives enough to make it meaningful and therefore the retention of the knowledge will be lost.

3. Previous Experience – Instruction that can not be liked to the adults background knowledge will be lost.

4. Relevance – If the content is not specifically relevant or the presenter does not specifically identify the relevance to the adult learners life and work, the meaning will be lost.

5. Emotional Connection – Another education researcher Robert Sylwester stated, “Emotion drives attention and attention drives learning.” Emotional connections inspire memory retention and recall ability. Presenters must instill an emotional connection in their dissemination of information

6. Self-Learners – Adults all have their own interpretation about how they learn best. Whether it is accurate or not is irrelevant, but it will, without a doubt, impact their learning; therefore, it is imperative that the presenter states the objective for the learning and benefits gained from the learning.

7. Alignment – Adult learners expect the outcomes to be in alignment with the established objectives. If the outcome does not correlate with the objective then learning will be lost.

8. FUN! – All participants should have FUN! The audience will not be fooled if you do not enjoy presenting the material and their enjoyment should also encompass enjoyment, including laughter.

If you would like support in establishing or assessing the learning principles of your next training or employee development in your business, we are eager to team together with you to get the results you desire. Visit our website at www.themeritgroupindy.com or call 317-805-4896 today!